Criminal Price
by smilecauseyoumeanit
Summary: "Everything we do is for a reason." Percy growled, his eyes glinting. In the time Annabeth had been there, she had never seen Percy so angry. She backed away slowly. Annabeth is kidnapped by a band of criminals, and is held hostage for a huge price. Kidnapping/Thievery/Murder/Fighting/Destruction/Realization. T because I'm a wimp.


_I was having so much fun with my other fic, I decided to try another one . So let's get right in to the story!_

**Annabeth Pov**

Princess Chase looked into her mirror. It was lined with black pearls that looked greyish in color, and the mirror its self was solid gold. In it, she could see herself, and loved what she saw. Blonde ringlets cascaded down her back. Her dress was the same stormy gray color as her eyes, with a bright red sparkly ribbon that was tied around her waist. It seemed to add color to the entire outfit, since everything else was shimmery grey. Her skin looked a little tanner, since all the colors except for the ribbon, were pale. The dress ended below the knee, and her flats helped by giving it a finishing touch. Annabeth, her name, though the only people who called her that were her brothers, parents, her best friend Piper, and her favorite maid Bianca. Both Piper and Bianca were here with her now. Piper was 17, like Annabeth, and Bianca was 16. Piper was known as Lady McLean, she was the daughter of the richest man in the kingdom. Richer even, than the royals. The two families were close though, so there wasn't any jealousy passed around. Bianca had been born a maid, but her younger brother ran away because he was miserable. Bianca still hasn't heard back from him, so Annabeth took pity on her and made Bianca her personal maid.

Today was the day she was to go out in to her kingdom to meet subjects, see to important details, and make herself better liked and known. She knew there were dangers, hence the silver dress and the red ribbon, along with the lack of jewelry. Werewolves' hated silver, most evil was afraid of red, and criminals were more likely to attack someone who looks rich. There was a dagger hidden in the folds of her dress in case she got in trouble. Piper was going to come with her, and was wearing a red dress with a silver belt, but her brown hair was tied up in a bun. Bianca looked proud of her fashion sense, and Piper squealed and hugged her. "I love it!" She then jumped back and straightened out her dress. "I mean… thanks so much Bianca, it looks really good." Piper was totally red. Both Annabeth and Bianca giggled, but Piper just stuck her tongue out. "Anyways, its 11:30, and we need to leave in 15 minutes. Maybe we should get ready to go now. "

The girls made their way through the huge palace, saying bye to their families, and then finally Bianca when they got to their carriage. The two sat in the back in case there was an attack, and there were two guards in the front, one driving, and the other looking out. Then there were another two guards standing behind them. Their names were Jason (Piper's boyfriend), Dakota, Castor, and Jakub. Jason stood behind his girlfriend, proud and tall, like a statue, and piper smiled at him, he smiled back without moving his face too much. Dakota nudged him a little and winked. Annabeth giggled. Piper blushed and kicked her, Annabeth stuck her tongue out, and Piper said, "So, how's Luke?" Annabeth turned red. She motioned to the guards, who pulled out ear plugs and stuffed them in their ears so the two girls could speak privately.

"He's good, but he's also been really busy. He and Jason have been. Since Jason is the main guard, what do you expect? Anyways, there's always been a few criminal bands, and there's one group that's really been acting up. They've stolen two precious objects, murdered someone, has two people hostage, and is causing a huge turmoil. They've been making the kingdom seem unsafe. I give you permission to talk to Jason about it." Piper looked deep in thought at Annabeth's words.

"Is there anything we can do about it? Do we know anything about them?" Piper asked, tilting her head to the side.

"We know their leader is really good, and we know they know what we know, but" There was a huge bump in the road, and a lot of screaming. The guards took out their ear muffs and got in to line, guarding the two girls as well as possible. Jakub, the driver, shouted to the other guards about what he was seeing. What he said, scared Annabeth.

"It's the criminals! They're attacking the carriage. They're trying to turn us over. There's-"There was a huge thump in the front of the wagon. "-Castor's Dead!" the carriage spun and Dakota took his place in the front, on defense. What was left of Castor was pushed in to the back of the wagon. Castor was her Brother Matthew's role model. He'd be crushed. Piper threw up, and Annabeth feinted.

Annabeth awoke in her bed. It was soft, and she was smothered in blankets. She felt heavy and sick, and it took her a few seconds to remember Castor. Lying there on the floor of the carriage, simply dead weight. She grew sick to her stomach. She opened her eyes a little more to see two blurry shapes. One had black hair and brown eyes and the other had brown hair and… well, she couldn't tell what color her eyes were. Bianca and Piper! "Did anyone tell Matthew?" were Annabeth's first words. Piper shared a glance with Bianca. Then shook her head. "Well, how long was I out?"

"About 2 hours." Bianca answered. Seemingly predicting Annabeth's next question, she continued "It wasn't the criminals who are being hunted by Luke and Jason. It's a different group. One of the oldest. A father to the really bad ones. This one was actually meant as a warning of things to come on the royal family." Piper nodded.

"I've been talking to Jason. He said-" The doors flew open, and Luke burst in.

"How's my princess!" Luke ran towards her, and hopped on to the bed next to hers. "Good News! We're this close to having the guy who killed Castor!" Luke grinned at Annabeth and pulled out his sword, pointing it right at Bianca Di-Angelo.


End file.
